Neotoldir's Origins
by Flashryan
Summary: A short one-short story about a Troll Hunter-turned-Death Knight. Rated M for some harsh violence. Haven't uploaded in years, constructive feedback is appreciated!


Neotoldir's Origins

Bleak…that's what the air felt like, in the cold eternal winter that made up Northrend's weather. It hadn't been long after Toldir, a troll hunter with his faithful pets and companions, answered Warchief Thrall's call to join the rest of the Horde on the frontlines of the new war against the Lich King. Risen from his slumber atop the icy throne, the Lich King challenged both the Alliance and the Horde to come to Northrend and face him and his undead Scourge forces.

The jingle of his mail armor as he stepped off the zeppelin at Vengeance Landing was briefly heard as he was surrounded by Forsaken, those undead broken from the Lich King's dominating will and forging a new path for themselves – as they littered the basecamp around him when he was stepping down the zeppelin tower steps. Toldir traveled light – most of his tamed pets were stabled back in Orgrimmar, the home capital city for the orcs of the Horde so as to not endanger them on this perilous journey. He didn't need to eat much to keep a lean physique healthy, and as a hunter food came easily. He almost regretted pulling his hair back into its dreadlocks with the cold biting his skin every so often. It was just him and his warpstalker Namineh – a clean white large lizard with purple spiked figures and patterns across her body as he pet her head as she walked by him, sniffing the air. Toldir took a deep breath and sighed, looking upwards toward the overlooking cliff in the distance. "Here we be, Namineh. Hopefully de Forsaken have some matters dat be leadin' us deeper into de continent."

Days passed, with Toldir's help the basecamp and Horde forces pushed deeper into Scourge territory. Toldir's journey had him end up at Venomspite – a named, newly set up larger campsite for more of the Forsaken forces specifically had been built up after the push into a huge icy plains area home to several dragon flights – good and bad – aptly named Dragonblight. Venomspite lay near the border of Dragonblight and Grizzly Hills, a few day's campaign had been a significant help towards the Horde's push through the area known as Grizzly Hills. It was here amongst the living, dead, and dragons – both alive and dead as well – that Toldir began to feel uneasy. Up until this point he did his job, hunted what he needed to, and stayed under oath and sway for what the Horde needed. But, he wanted more. No, he NEEDED more. He smiled and pet Namineh once more as he took his longbow, Rhok'delar it was called, with him and whistled for Namineh to follow. The Forsaken would be ok without him for a few hours, oddly he found himself wanting to explore more than anything. He had been traveling with his Horde brethren where they needed to go so much that he rarely had time in between to go see what all Northrend was really about. He even had considered what the animals in this land were thinking or doing, and he paused for a quick moment to ponder that he hadn't seen much of any kind of wildlife that wasn't infected or corrupted in some way.

He had traveled north, far north in fact, past a Tuskarr village, natives that resembled walruses but walked upright. Toldir tread cautiously as the forest past the village was getting thicker, and thicker. The snow was falling heavy, but he continued on. He wasn't sure he was hunting something, but he felt on edge. He wasn't sure of it, but felt like he was being watched – suddenly all around him. His instincts felt right, as Namineh confirmed his feelings as she growled and struck a defensive pose against him, raising her back and bared her teeth ahead of him. He paused, as she darted left, and then right, and suddenly warping behind him. This was her defensive mechanism when she was keeping her master safe, form a sort of safety bubble around him since she can warp to any side of him. The snow shuddered underneath Toldir, in a wide circle, as he jumped back, following Namineh's lead she had on him as the snow collapsed in a sinkhole. A couple of spider-like Nerubian soldiers sprung forth from the hole, lunging quickly at him, but were met with arrows dislodged from his longbow and into their skulls. Their limp bodies fell next to one another as they slid and stopped in the fresh snow. Toldir said nothing but drew and held another arrow, pointing it towards the hole as Namineh sniffed yet kept her defensive stance. Moment passed, but nothing moved, his breathing harsh, yet steady, his lungs trying to combat the icy winds as they seemed to grow stronger. He heard the familiar warp noise she made when she teleported behind him, and he quickly spun on his heels to turn and fire the arrow – but the arrow was deflected swiftly as well as Namineh held in a large gloved, heavy grasp.

The Lich King.

The Lich King was abnormally larger than a supposed human, the armor made him appear even taller than that, the black, skull adorned plate armor was glowing a ghastly blue hue as his large runeblade, the legendary Frostmourne, was held easily with one hand in his grasp. Namineh regained herself and warped away from the Lich King behind Toldir, shaking. Toldir opened up a large volley of arrows, and jumped back, quickly crouching down and running closer to the ground, almost like he took on the aspects of a cheetah. The Lich King raised one gloved hand and a large gust of howling wind rushed towards Toldir, barely able to dodge it enough, his feet were caught and he fell into the snow, his feet nearly frozen. Namineh rushed to him, as the Lich King stepped closer.

"I've been watching you, leading this little campaign across my continent. You could be useful to me. But not if you keep making mistakes that'll cost you your life. Join me, troll. Join me and rule with the power I know you can wield!" the Lich King spoke. He spoke slowly, yet it was deep and penetrating into Toldir's head as much as the ice he wielded as a weapon.

"Da hell with dat!" Toldir spit at him. Namineh charged towards the Lich King, warping behind him and attempting to claw his back to distract him while Toldir ran forward, his bow Rhok'delar transforming into a staff, becoming a long powerful staff with the same features as the bow, attempting to impale the Lich King. But the Lich King stood his ground, not fazed by the warpstalker claws or the attempted impalement from the staff merely bouncing off his armor. The Lich King backhanded the warpstalker into a nearby tree trunk, and moved with an unholy swiftness as he punched Toldir squarely in the chest, leaving a huge dent as he sent Toldir spiraling into another nearby tree. Toldir shook his head as he landed and quickly got to his feet and beginning running, dodging the Lich King's swings of his weapon. They were powerful, but slow swings and Toldir could dodge them all day. But his concern for Namineh had him circle back, she was beaten and somewhat bloody with fresh cuts and a gash or two from the spiked gauntlet the Lich King wore. Toldir heard a nearby explosion as the Lich King stepped onto the trap rigged with explosives he had laid down while he had circled back around behind the Lich King. The spirit bond Toldir had held with Namineh reacted when they got close, and he could see her wounds slowly start to heal, but it was going to be a bit before she was fully healed. Toldir turned to face the smoke created from the explosion, watching it swirl and disappear as the Lich King summoned the snow and ice around him into a tight continuous sphere, swirling around him like a remorseless winter.

Fear struck Toldir as the Lich King seemed unfazed by anything he had to throw at him, but in a quick flash as the Lich King pulled back to take a big swing at him with his runeblade, Toldir stood up defensively and held up his staff to stand his ground against the swing. But the power was too great, and in an instant, the staff was split in two, easily, as well as large cut split into Toldir's left shoulder, slightly deflected from the staff but still severely deep. His left arm went limp as he let out a howl of pain. Namineh jumped up and went straight for the Lich King's helmeted face, but as the Lich King reared back to head-butt Namineh she warped behind him to grapple and cling to his back. Surprised, he stepped back and attempted to reach around and grab her, buying Toldir time. But time is what he didn't have, bleeding, his left arm limp, he backed up against the tree trunk, attempting to summon any Loa spirit he believed in to help him regenerate faster. Trolls naturally could regenerate and heal from most any injury, but like any injury it took time.

Fed up, the Lich King growled in rage and summoned his swirling winter vortex around him again, but Namineh was caught in it this time, her body going into shock and near instantly freezing as she slid off his back, the ice and snow clumping and freezing around her body, into almost a near ice block when she hit the ground.

Toldir's eyes widened. "Namineh!" he tried to shout, but that only served to get his blood pumping faster outside of his body as he attempted to hold the deep cut together with his free hand. The Lich King swung his sword again, this time bringing it to Toldir's face and pointing it straight at him.

"One last time….troll. Join my army, or die here in this wasteland." He spoke harshly, coldly. Toldir said nothing, as he spit on the Lich King. Angered, he impaled Toldir with his sword straight into the stomach. Toldir went almost completely limp, screaming as he let go of his shoulder and could barely keep from blacking out. He was hoisted into the air, eye level to the Lich King, to which he was then thrust hard into the tree truck, the tree pushing back as the Lich King held him there, impaled on a tree. Toldir went full limp, and his head drooped. The Lich King released Toldir from the tree and he fell into the snow face first on his stomach, blood quickly rushing out. The Lich King stood there for a moment, looking back at Toldir's pet, still frozen in ice. He held his runeblade over Toldir's limp body, the body seemed to jump a little as the Lich King witnessed the soul being taken by force by the weapon. A valkyr was waiting in the sky, being summoned down by the Lich King. She shocked Toldir's body, shocked it multiple times with lightning jumping from her fingers into his body. The Lich King swung the runeblade again, the rune writing on the blade glowing brightly. Ice and snow swirled around Toldir's body, turning his skin a sickly white color from the rich blue it was before. The body was lifted into the air, floating and supported by the ice and snow, the Lich King willed Toldir to open his eyes. A loud gasp was heard as Toldir threw his head back. The deep cuts and gashes now closed with large scarring. The husk, the shell, the corpse, stood as it was slowly set down. Standing like as if it were alive and breathing naturally. Barely blinking, Toldir stood facing the Lich King. His eyes now white, with a blue glow, signifying the Lich King's power now residing within him, resurrected as an agent of the Lich King.

"A Death Knight. You are now one of my prized soldiers in this undead Army of the Scourge." The Lich King told him. "What was your name in life, Troll?" The corpse stood blankly, and turned his gaze up to meet his master's gaze. "Toldir."

"Toldir then, you shall be remade. You will embrace the icy frost, wield the unrelenting thirst and power of blood magic, and strike harshly with the power to command undead and disease with unholy might." The Lich King said while clenching his fist.

"But first you must learn each of these aspects. Feel the cold chill of a presence of frost about you, Toldir." Toldir held his fist into the air, icy magic leapt from his hand into the frigid air, yet was formed into an icy, howling blast. "Your skin and body already carry the essence of frost. Now you must feel the presence of unholy magic within you." Toldir nodded, and put his hand parallel with the ground, and summoned a bony ghoul from under the ground, flesh and bone remade as the corpse was animated. It was in shambles, yet obeyed. Following Toldir's hand movements with its gaze as it stood there. But was soon broken into pieces when Neo blew it away with a frozen blast of ice.

"Now the last essence, the essence of blood." The Lich King turned towards Namineh and shattered the ice, breaking the prison it was kept in, letting the body recover from the shock of a deep freeze as he stood there with Toldir.

"All Death Knights thrive on violence, on a lust and hunger for blood, for it is the life blood of others that you must claim to sedate your violent tendencies. Kill or be killed, Toldir."

The Lich King pointed towards Namineh, now standing up but shaking, and shivering, looking towards her former master, with shock, awe, and a fearful demeanor about her. Without hesitation, Toldir willed ice and snow to form up from the ground into an icy imitation of the Frostmourne runeblade, as Neo slowly walked towards Namineh. The warpstalker cried for its life, unable to move. Toldir raised the weapon up and prepared to strike, but hesitated.

"Do it…do it now before the creature escapes!" The Lich King prodded.

Toldir stood, hesitating still, fighting it. Fighting the urge. Whether he knew what was going on was unclear. Kill, break, slaughter. Kill, break, slaughter, was all that was running through his mind. Yet, this creature meant something to him, he did not want to kill it. The Lich King raised his weapon towards and his helmet glowed with a black hue for a moment.

"Do it…..kill it…..slaughter it…." The Lich King willed. And without a second thought, Toldir slain his companion. Gasping for a moment, Toldir sunk to his knees, Namineh's blood pooling around his legs. His hands contorted under the Lich King's control and absorbed the blood into his body.

"You have fulfilled the Death Knight pact and are imbued with all three aspects of a Death Knight. You are reformed and reborn anew. From this day forward your new name is…Neotoldir."

And it is from this day forward it shall remain….


End file.
